Kingston wasn’t dead.
29
The Survivors
It had been four years, and yet Kingston looked exactly as he had when he’d tried to assassinate Iba and steal his throne. No, that wasn’t true. His sandy-brown hair was thicker and longer, chopped unevenly even though the curled ends hid the irregularities, and his jaw was coated by a beard which veiled the conspicuous chin dimple he’d always been so proud of because it tied him to Linus, who’d apparently sported one too. Neither Iba nor Neenee had inherited that trait, but Sook and Giya had, to my cousins’ great regret, even though theirs were not as pronounced as Kingston’s.
“You aren’t dead,” I said flatly.
My illegitimate uncle, who’d been born the same year as Remo, grinned nice and wide. “Surprise.” He was leaning against a branch whittled down to a sharp point. Had he carried the weapon to scare me or to keep evil creatures at bay?
“Where is Remo?” I scanned the trees behind them.
“Wandering around the caves,” Kingston replied. “They’re not far, so he should be back any moment.”
“You haven’t hurt him?”
“Hurt him? Why would we hurt him?” The girl side-eyed Kingston. “Unless you came to finish us off . . .”
“They didn’t come to kill us. Remo is Gregor’s grandson. Hisbelovedgrandson. If anything, they came to free us. It must be time.”
“Why would they send the king’s daughter if it was time?” the girl snapped.
I surmised they were discussing the coup my father had warned me about.
“Why don’t we ask her why they’re here instead of assuming, Little King?”
Little King?Back in Neverra, Kingston had often been referred to as King for short. The last time anyone had called himLittleKing, the woman—a femalelucionagadevoted to my father for granting women positions inside the army—had vanished. I’d always held out hope that she’d gone to Earth and lived out her life there, but Sook insisted the sparkling blue honeysuckle vine that twined around the railing of my uncle’s balcony at the top of thecalimborhad appeared the day she went missing.
Kingston gnashed his teeth. “I think you forget who has the apple.”
The girl glared at him.
The apple?Were they talking about the one that showed up in all the worlds? Before I could formulate a question, the girl asked, “Why are you here?”
How I wished I could climb to my feet, or at the very least, sit, because my prostrate position made me look weak. “I’m here because I was looking for someone. A girl named Kiera Locklear.”
The fringe of dark lashes framing her navy eyes lowered. “Why are you looking for her?”
It struck me then, the resemblance—the blue eyes, the pale hair, the freckles. I’d found Kiera.
I licked my lips. “Your brother told me about this place, told me he thought you might be in here.” I left out the bit about having no choice. I thought it much wiser she believed me a heroine come to rescue her than sent against my wishes. “I didn’t know if I’d find you. I didn’t know if we’d find anyone. Especially after our prolonged visit inside,” I added with a bitter twist of my lips.
Kiera crouched next to me, the stained khaki shorts that grazed her knobby knees bunching around her thighs. “Kingston told me everyone thought I was dead.”
“Not Joshua.” I remembered she also had a twin—Cole. He was almost forty while she looked what . . . fifteen? Sixteen? Josh had said time moved differently here, but he was wrong; time, here, didn’t move at all. “Cole is also trying to find you,” I lied, although maybe he’d held out hope his sister was alive.
I knew Cole in passing. He was a soft-spoken marine biologist who was helping introduce and acclimate Earthly flora and fauna to Neverrian waters. Since he was my mother’s age, I’d never had much contact with him. Giya knew him better, what with having taken care of his kindergarten-aged daughter when she helped with summer camps.
“Cole?” Her narrowed eyes told me she wasn’t convinced.
“Yes, Cole.”
She rose from her crouch. “My twin gave up on me the day he moved to Neverra and left me behind. Josh was only seven, so I forgive him, but not Cole. Don’t try to bullshit me here, princess, because I will make your life hell.”
“You’ll make my life hell?” I probably shouldn’t have snorted but how could I not? I was alreadyinHell.
“Ever heard the story of Prometheus and the eagle, princess?”
